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Sudd
The Sudd is a vast swampy area located in what is today South Sudan (the southern part of Sudan in Biggles time). It is an area of lakes, channels and wetlands through which a section of the White Nile flows from Mongalla (just north of Juba) to just upstream of Malakal. The Sudd has historically been a barrier to travel and exploration. The inaccessibility of the Sudd is a feature which becomes a major plot element several times in the Biggles stories. The Sudd and Biggles In Biggles in Africa, there is a mention of the Sudd during Biggles' flight from Cairo to Malakal. The text mentions that he encountered bumpy weather over Egypt, struck a sandstorm between Wadi Halfa and Khartoum and then had some anxious minutes when an engine misfired over the dreaded Sudd before landing at Malakal. This suggests that the Sudd is between Khartoum and Malakal, which is incorrect. The Sudd actually lies wholly south of Malakal. Indeed, Insula is said to be about 150 miles south of Malakal. Because the White Nile and the Sudd takes a westwards bend from Mongalla to Malakal, due South of Malakal would be a drier area on the eastern boundary of the Sudd and which might fit the description of the terrain given in the text. In Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D., Wilks mentions that there is plenty of sanseviera (the bow string hemp plant) in the Sudd, but Biggles doesn't actually flew anywhere near the region in this story. In The Case of the Mysterious Gunshots, Biggles tells Raymond that the Sudd stretches from Khartoum to Malakal, thus repeating the mistake in Biggles in Africa. Many plot elements hang on this supposed location of the wetlands. A native of the Karuli tribe, injured by the mysterious gunshots, walks into Khartoum because, as the text says, his tribal area is to the west of the Sudd at the northern end. Again, a Nestorian aircraft forcelands in the Sudd halfway between Khartoum and Malakal. Nonetheless, Johns did give a correct description of the terrain and wildlife of the Sudd in the story. In Biggles and the Gun Runners, Biggles is forced down in the Sudd while flying a Constellation. This time, the location of the Sudd is more accurately given. This time Biggles suggests that whoever left the site of the Constellation which was forced down may have had to travel as far as Malakal or Juba to send a telegram. These were the large towns at the northern and southern ends respectively. Again Bob "Sandy" Grant tells Biggles that their usual route to Congo is to fly down the Nile to the Sudd and at the southern end, and then turn sharp west for the northeast corner of the Congo. This is geographically accurate. Later, in Chapter 9, Biggles mentions that he once handled in salvage job in the Sudd. He had dug a stranded De Havilland Dragon out of the mud and then sold the aircraft for a tidy profit. Since he couldn't have done this while in service in the Air Police, it was probably before the Second World War. External links *wikipedia: Sudd Category:Places Category:Actual places